2004 NHL Entry Draft defensive prospect Ivan Amakhin suffered a shoulder injury today during practice with Lokomotiv's junior farm team. It is unclear how much time he will miss to rehabilitate the injury.

Skating: An above average skater with an average top speed...skates
well backwards Shot: Tries to help out on offense and tends to
shoot the puck from the point...he needs to improve the release and accuracy
of his slap shot. Technical Play: Amakhin a good puck handler
and is capable of bringing the puck up the ice...doesn’t hesitate to
try to handle the puck around opponents. Pass: Capable of making
very good outlet passes, but needs to improve the speed of his decision making.
Hockey Sense: A reliable player, who makes safe decisions...needs
to read plays better and improve the speed of his decision making, as at times
a short delay costs him a scoring opportunity or a defensive lapse. Defensive
Play: A reliable player defensively, who keeps things simple...plays
well positionally. Physical Play: Stands at 6’0 and 185
pounds, but plays bigger than his dimensions...fights hard at the boards and
capable of making impressive open ice hits...impresses with his determination.
Overall: A talented workhorse type defenseman who doesn’t
stand out in any particular area, but has been hurt recently by his lack of exposure
due to several injuries.

Back In Russia:

Ivan Amakhin is a product of the Lokomotiv Yaroslval hockey school. 2003-04 season: Ivan spent the 2003-04 season with Lokomotiv’s junior farm team, Lokomotiv 2, where he started off as the squad’s top defenseman, but was limited to only 8 games during the regular season. Amakhin also saw action on Russia’s 1986 DOB national team, but was limited to only the August’s U18 World Cup and November’s Four Nations Tournament, missing December’s training camp and February’s Five Nations Tournament. He suffered a shoulder injury in October and was not in full strength at November's tournament. The reliable defenseman played well during the training camp prior U18 World Junior Champiponships. In the warm up game where the U18 squad faced off against the Soviet Wings, Amakhin took the ice in the Soviet Wings uniform and showed up a lot of his junior teammates with his solid, mature play. Surprisingly, the young blue liner did not make the squad due, at least in part, to what appears to be politics. Regardless of the training camp’s outcome, he looked better than many defensemen who did skate in Russia’s gold medal winning campaing at the U18 WJC. Amakhin finished the season off with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl’s junior farm club, skating in all 17 games of the club’s division winning playoff campaign. He looked solid and appeared to have fully recovered from his leg injury that sidelined him earlier in the year.

NHL Outlook:

Ivan Amakhin is eligible for the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. He was projected to be
a third or fourth round pick last summer, but has slid since then due to the lack
of exposure and nagging injuries. Still, while Amakhin is not a star caliber defenseman,
he is a type of a workhorse, safe, and reliable defenseman that every NHL squad
needs to build a winning squad. Despite missing the critical U18 WJC, unless Amakhin
opts out of the 2004 Draft, he will be selected, if only in the latter rounds.
RussianProspects Draft Projection: Seventh Round